TEACHERS at a Chester school are bracing themselves for 'industrial action' after being urged not to teach a teenager at the centre of an expulsion row.

The National Union of Teachers is balloting staff at Kingsway High School over the educational future of 15-year-old pupil Gareth Kelly, who was allowed to return after appealing against being expelled by headteacher Dr David Gower.

Gareth was away from school for eight weeks following a verbal attack on teaching staff during a school disco at the end of September.

But his case was upheld by an independent appeal panel made up of education experts and lay people, which ruled his expulsion by Dr Gower was 'unreasonable' for the 'one-off' incident.

However, teachers are still unhappy with the decision and have joined in a legal ballot to refuse to teach the schoolboy, who has received solitary tution from supply staff since his return a fortnight ago.

If teachers agree to refuse teaching him they will be breaching their contracts and Gareth could face one-to-one tuition until he leaves school next May.

Teachers have until Friday, December 14 to decide whether they wish to continue teaching the teenager, who lives in Upton, Chester, with his mother Janet Schofield.

Union chiefs say there may be a 'window for resolution' for Gareth's return to mainstream classes but that would depend on talks between Dr Gower and Gareth's parents.

NUT spokeswoman Olive Forsythe said: 'There is a legal ballot going on. Our members have made it clear that the boy should be permanently excluded.

'We back the head's judgment. Our concern is for all pupils in the school.'

School staff are angry Gareth was allowed to return despite the fortunes of a fellow Year 11 boy who remains expelled for his involvement in the verbal attack. His appeal upheld Dr Gower's decision.

NUT Cheshire spokesman Campbell Russell said the local education authority is powerless to change Gareth's teaching arrangement, paid for through the school's own budget, because it satisfies national teaching regulations.

'Staff are unhappy that the professional judgment of the head was overturned,' he said.

Mr Campbell said the decision of the independent appeals panel in Gareth's case was 'flawed' and 'misguided' and said the decision to expel the other Year 11 boy was 'the final straw'.

'Teachers at the school are aware of the legal ramifications,' he added.